Reinventing
a franchise as much known for its innovations as its
cliches, has to be one daunting task. How do you retain
freshness in a series as long in the tooth as Resident
Evil? I mean, the survival horror genre has been in
the videogame vernacular for almost 10 years now.
Luckily you and I don't have to answer these questions;
we just get to play 'em. Fret not because it all worked
out in the wash. Director Shinji Mikami's RE4 is a
triumphant spectacle which begs you to sit down and
play it until it's finished; even if you've already
done so on the GameCube.

Returning
to center stage is S.T.A.R.s rookie and one time resident
of Raccoon City, Leon S. Kennedy (RE2) who is now
investigating the disappearance of the president's
daughter and the trail leads him to a remote town
nestled away somewhere in Europe. Unfortunately for
him and you, the townsfolk don't take kindly to strangers
and will attack you upon sight. Something isn't quite
right about these people who become downright unkind
to poor Leon, but unlike previous games they aren't
mindless shuffling zombies who are easy to dispose
of; they are fast, nasty buggers hellbent on killing
you alone, in packs, through windows...whatever it
takes.

If
you haven't played the Cube version of RE4 this review
is simply an obstacle in your way of actually playing
it - don't waste anymore time, go and buy it. For
those of you who have had the distinct pleasure of
getting to the end of RE4 once already, you're surely
wondering if this one is worth it. The extras above
and beyond what was available on the Cube include
new costumes (purely cosmetic), new weapons for Leon
and Ada Wong and an entirely new quest for Ada entitled
"Separate Ways". Sure the new costumes are
nice and the new weapons - laser rifle (Leon) and
explosive crossbow (Ada) - are kick ass enough, but
it's the Separate Ways adventure that you definitely
MUST play. Not only is the quest incredibly long but
it's filled with tons of information that will shed
all sorts of light on questions that you may have
had when playing the first time through. Want to know
why the enemies instantly stop attacking when the
church bell rings? You'll discover this and a lot
more. The new quest will take upwards of 5 hours or
more, which is actually the length of time some of
the previous RE games took to beat (once you knew
where everything was) which makes it one impressive
little extra.

Where
RE4 ups the ante over every game in the series is
by systematically eradicating all of the little things
about Resident Evil games that pissed you off. You
won't have to suffer through door or ladder animations.
Kick the freakin' door in! Climb the damn ladder now!
It's all done in realtime. The perspective is over
the shoulder allowing for true aiming control at your
enemies as well as providing a "close to the
action" visual which completely puts you into
the drivers seat for all of the horror. The environments
are in 3D (you can't go everywhere but there is more
freedom available than ever before) and you'll encounter
context senstive areas that will allow you to jump
through windows or over fences. Gotta love that. The
3D movement completely zooms past the "rotate
on your axis" school of movement found in previous
RE titles and allows fantastic analog control of Leon
and Ada. Also the puzzles while still present aren't
as mindnumbingly boring or nebulous as the "find
the crest to open the door" that drove me crazy
throughout every single game in the RE library. You
will still require typewriters to save your game and
the chests have been removed in favor of a briefcase
which will hold all of your precious items and can
even be upgraded. You can even pick up and drop items
whenever you need to making inventory control extremely
user friendly.

Adding
to the overall sense of realism is the body sensitive
damage areas which can be used against your enemies.
Shoot them in the leg to slow them down, shoot the
dynamite in their hands to blow it up, blow off their
heads in one shot to kill them (yeah, that's what
I thought to the first time....) - it's all good and
it requires a steadier hand and damn good solid aim,
more so than in any previous RE game yet. And it only
gets better. Just when you thought RE had completely
changed in terms of direction - outdoors instead of
creepy mansions, human villagers instead of zombies
- you'll face the first of many completely insane
bosses which inhabit the game. The boss battles in
RE4 are legendary and you won't find me spoiling anything
for you.

Visually
the PS2 version stands up extremely well to the Cube.
I honestly couldn't tell the difference and I physically
had them going side by side. There may be some texture
disintegration and whatnot but only Type A gamers
who have absolutely nothing better to do will notice.
Type A gamers that have both versions running side
by side.....hey, don't look at me like that! I just
did so in the name of research you freakin' bunch
of labelers! (Note to self - is "labelers"
a real word?) The PS2 does boast true widescreen mode
and supports Progressive Scan for cleaner visuals.
My TV doesn't which sucks but that's my problemo.
Not to be outdone, RE is an aural treat for your ears.
Great voice acting, context sensitive orchestral soundtrack,
ambient sound effects and villagers who speak Spanish
so you won't know what they're planning (unless you
speak Spanish of course) combine to make RE4 one of
the best sounding games this year.

If
you're a true RE fan you can prove it by purchasing
the Premium PS2 Edition for $49.99 (the regular game
retails at $39.99). The Premium Edition comes with
a custom Resident Evil 4 Steel Case, Resident Evil
4 game, a making of Resident Evil 4 DVD, a limited
edition Laser Cell of Ada Wong and Brady Games' Resident
Evil Prologue Mini Art Book. If you want to take your
RE obsession to the next level make sure to pick up
the RE4 Chainsaw controller which is shaped like an
actual chainsaw and covered in gore. That will set
you back $59.99. Definitely only for the dedicated....

If
you're tickled pink that the RE series once again
returns home to the PlayStation family of products
where it belongs, rush out and invest in one of the
best survival horrors games to date. RE4 is a refreshing
take on the genre and manages to be just as taut and
tense as previous titles without relying on the usual
tried and true scare tactics. Clocking in at over
25 hours of gameplay (if you've never played before),
RE4 never once bogs down in rehash or mindless repetition,
managing to keep the pace on "alert" from
start to finish which is a most impressive feat considering
most two hour movies can't sustain that level of suspense.
Highly recommended.